Four Philippine pilots killed after two training planes collide mid-air

Two Philippine trainer aircraft collided mid-air on Friday during a training exercise, killing four Philippine Air Force pilots.

The incident happened at 3.51pm local time on Friday during a training ⁠flight at ​the Fernando ⁠Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas province, the Philippine Air Force said ⁠in a statement.

The air force said the two jets were SF-260 trainer planes that came down within the perimeter of Fernando Air Base.

All four pilots on board were killed.

The air force did not disclose the identities of the four pilots or specify how many personnel were aboard each aircraft.

No other casualties were reported.

The PAF issued a press statement confirming the deaths, expressing condolences, and noting that response teams were activated immediately.

The PAF has temporarily grounded its fleet of SF-260 trainer planes ⁠pending an investigation into the cause of the accident.

“The Philippine Air Force (PAF) mourns the loss of four pilots in an aviation accident involving two SF-260 aircraft during a training flight at Fernando Air Base on October 23, 2026, at 3.51 PM,” PAF spokesperson Colonel Alvin Jay Capinguian said.

“An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident,” Mr Capinguian said.

Two Philippine officials with knowledge of what happened said the two planes collided in flight. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter.

One of the two-seater aircraft went down near the barracks of military personnel in the air base, a witness told the Associated Press.

The SF-260s are SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 light aircraft designed by Italian aircraft designer Stelio Frati.

The crash marks the latest blow to the Philippine military, which is struggling to modernise its air force and navy amid financial constraints as it fights decades-long communist and Muslim insurgencies. Struggles have been compounded by increasingly hostile territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.

In May, an SF-260 trainer aircraft crashed in a mountainous area in the northern Philippines, killing two pilots. Another SF-260 TP Marchetti crashed during a 2023 training flight, also killing two pilots.

The military deployed SF-260 aircraft in a months-long bombing campaign against Islamic State-linked militants who seized control of parts of Marawi City in the southern Philippines in 2017.

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